Plastic dispensing nozzle with captive cap



Aug. 19, 1969 J. HENCHERT v PLASTIC DISPENSING NOZZLE WITH CAPTIVE-CAP Original Filed Jan. 19, 1951 2 Shets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR. JOHN HENCHEJI-T g 19, 1969 J. HENCHERT 3, 8-

PLASTIC DISPENSIN G NOZZLE WITH CAPTIVE CAP 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Original Filed Jan. 19, 1961 INVENTOR- JOHN HENcHEz-r United States Patent Office 3,462,048 Patented Aug. 19, 1969 3,462,048 PLASTIC DISPENSING NOZZLE WITH CAPTIVE CAP John Henchert, Oak Park, Ill., assignor to Continental Can Company, Inc., New Yrk,'N.Y., a corporation of New York Original applicationJan. 19, 1961, Ser. No. 83,727, now Patent No. 3,282,477, dated Nov. 1, 1966. Divided and this application Mar. 30, 1966, Ser. No. 538,756

Int. Cl. B6Sd 47/08, 41/18, 51/20 U.S. Cl. 222-546 -1 Claim ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE This disclosure relates to a one-piece plastic dispensing nozzle having a captive cap. The principal feature of the disclosure has to do with the provision of a continuous locking ri-b on the exterior of the nozzle and forming the interior surface of the skirt of the cap with a plurality of circumferentially spaced locking ribs which are engageable beneath the locking rib of the nozzle to provide ,for the retention of the cap on the nozzle under normal conditions, and'to permit .the cap to be readily removed either during normal use or because of undesirably hi-gh pressures within the associated container.

This application is a division of my copending application Serial No. 83,727, filed Jan. 19, 1961, entitled Plastic Dispensing Nozzle with Removable Seal and Captive Cap, now Patent No. 3,282,477.

This invention relates in general to new and useful improvements in dispensing nozzles, and more particularly to a novel dispensing nozzle which is formed of plastic material and is provided with a captive cap.

An object of this invention is to provide a novel cap construction for a plastic dispensing nozzle wherein the cap is provided with a plug portion which projects down into the throat of the nozzle and forms a seal therewith, and the nozzle having an external locking ring which is engaged by a plurality of locking lugs on the cap to retain the cap in a nozzle sealing position, the holding power of the lugs on the cap being suflicient to normally retain the cap in place and at the same time being insutficient to retain the cap in place against greater-than-normal pressures within the container of which the nozzle is a part, whereby rupturing of the container due to the internal pressures is prevented.

A still further object of this invention is to provide a novelnozzle and cap construction wherein the cap is provided with a plug engageable into a throat of the nozzle and adapted to form a seal therewith to close the nozzle, the plug being upwardly flared with the upper portion of the plug being of a greater external diameter than the internal diameter of a corresponding portion of the throat, whereby when the capis properly positioned on the nozzle, the plug will be wedgedinto the nozzle with a resultant deformation of the upper portion of the throat and the formation of a good seal between the throat of the nozzle and-the plug of the cap.

With the above and other objects in view that will hereinafter appear, the nature of the invention will be more clearly understood by reference to the following detailed description, the appended claim and the several views illustrated in the accompanying drawings.

In .the drawings:

FIGURE 1 is a perspective view showing the nozzle which is thesubject of this invention mounted on a container, the captive cap of the nozzle being illustrated in an open-position.

FIGURE 2 is an enlarged vertical sectional view taken along the line 22 of FIGURE 1 and shows the specific cross section of both the nozzle and the closure cap.

FIGURE 3 is an enlarged fragmentary sectional view similar to FIGURE 2 and shows the closure cap in a position overlying the nozzle but short of being in sealing engagement therewith.

FIGURE 4 is an enlarged vertical sectional view taken through the nozzle assembly with the closure cap fully seated on the nozzle.

FIGURE 5 is a plan view on an enlarged scale showing the bottom of the cap and taken along the line 55 of FIGURE 2.

FIGURE 6 is a plan view of thenozzle taken on an enlarged scale along the line 6-6 of FIGURE 2.

FIGURE 7 is a plan view similar to FIGURE 6 showing the details of the nozzle provided with a modified form of sealing disc.

FIGURE 8 is a vertical sectional view taken along the line 88 of FIGURE 7.

Referring now to the drawings in detail, it will be seen that the nozzle and closure cap assembly, which is the subject of this invention, is generally referred to by the numeral 10 and is illustrated in FIGURE 1 as being carried by a container 11. The nozzle and closure cap assembly 10 includes a nozzle 12 and a closure cap 13 which is integrally connected to the nozzle 12 by means of a connecting strap 14. The connecting strap 14 is of sufficient length to permit the closure cap to be swung to a position closing the nozzle 12, as is shown in FIG- URE 4 while permitting the closure cap 13 to be moved to an out-of-the-way position, as is shown in FIGURES 1 and 2.

The nozzle 12 includes a cylindrical lower portion 15 which has an upwardly flaring outer bottom portion 16 which terminates in an upwardly facing lip 17 which is lockable with the container to prevent withdrawal of the nozzle from the container, for example, the container 11. The nozzle 12 has an annular flange 18 disposed above the lip 17, and the annular flange 18 has a downwardly opening annular recess 19 therein immediately above the locking lip 17 for the reception of a flange of the container 11 to provide the necessary interlock between the nozzle 12 and the container flange.

The nozzle 12 tapers inwardly above the flange 18, as at 21, and then extends upwardly to define a generally cylindrical upper portion 22. The upper portion 22 defines a pouring throat 23.

The upper portion 22 is provided with an external locking rib 24 spaced below the upper end of the nozzle 11, the locking rib 24 having a downwardly flaring upper camming surface 25. The upper portion 22 terminates in an outwardly projecting dripless pouring lip 26. The upper end of the throat 23 is outwardly flared as at 27 with the result that the upper end of the upper portion 22 defines a relatively narrow annular seat 28.

The closure cap 13 includes a top wall 29 having 21 depending cylindrical skirt 30 which terminates at its lower end in an outwardly directed annular reinforcing flange 31. The connecting strap 14 extends between the reinforcing flange 31 of the closure cap 13 and the flange 18 of the nozzle 12. In order to releaseably retain the closure cap 13 in position closing the nozzle 12, the skirt 30 of the closure cap 13 is provided at the lower end thereof with a plurality of circumferentially spaced locking lugs or ribs 32. As is best shown in FIGURE 5-, the locking lugs 32 are arranged with two of the locking lugs disposed along a diametrical line passing through the connecting strap 14 and the other two of the locking lugs being disposed along a second diametrical line extending at right angles to the first diametrical line. Also, best shown in FIGURE 5 is the general outline of each of the locking lugs wherein each locking lug has the main portion thereof extending substantially normal to its respective diametrical line and the ends thereof curve outwardly towards the skirt 30. Each locking lug 32 has an upwardly tapering undersurface 33 which cooperates with the camming surface 25 of the locking rib 24 to effect the snapping of the locking lugs 32 down over and beneath the locking rib 24.

The closure cap 13 is provided with a hollow plug 34 which extends downwardly from the undersurface of the top wall 29 thereof. The plug 34 has a downwardly flaring inner surface 35 so that the general cross-section of a segment of the plug 34 is wedge shaped.

Each plug 34 has a downwardly tapering upper outer portion 36 which is spaced from the skirt 30 and together with the skirt 30 defines a seat 37 on the underside of the top wall 29 of the closure cap 13. The plug 34 has an intermediate outer surface 38 which is generally cylindrical in outline and which terminates at the surface 36 along its upper boundary. The plug 34 also has a lower intermediate outer surface 39 which is downwardly tapered and which terminates in a cylindrical outer surface 40 of the plug 34. The extreme lower end of the plug 34 is rounded as at 41.

As is best shown in FIGURE 4, when the closure cap 13 is in place closing the nozzle 12, the plug 34 is wedged down into the upper portion of the throat 23 of the nozzle upper portion 22 and forms a seal therewith. It is to be noted that since the diameter of the surface portion 38 of the plug 34 is normally greater than the internal diameter of the surface defining the throat 23, when the closure cap 13 is positioned on the nozzle 12 and the plug 34 is forced into the throat 23, there is a deformation of the material of the nozzle 12 to form the desired seal between the plug 34 and the throat 23. It is also to be noted that the angle of the outwardly flared surface 27 of the nozzle with respect to the axis of the nozzle is greater than the angle of the surface 36 with respect to the axis of the nozzle, whereby the surfaces 27 and 36 do not contact, and in addition to the seal between the plug 34 and the throat 23, a second seal is formed between the seats 28 and 37.

It is to be understood that the holding power of the spaced locking lugs 32 is less than that of a continuous locking rib and by accurately determining the extents of the locking lugs 32, the holding power thereof may be controlled. Thus, the closure cap 13 will be locked onto the nozzle 12 to retain the closure cap 13 in place against a predetermined pressure within the throat 23, but permitting the releasing of the closure cap 13 with respect to the nozzle 12 to vent the nozzle 12 upon the pressure within the nozzle reaching a predetermined pressure to thereby prevent rupturing of the container 11. Under normal conditions the closure cap 13 is removed from the nozzle 12 by means of a lifting tab 42 which extends outwardly from the flange 31 in diametrical relation to the connecting strap 14.

The throat 23 of the nozzle 12 is initially closed and sealed by a sealing disc, generally referred to by the numeral 43. At this time it is pointed out that the throat 23 has a lower portion 44 which is of a greater diameter than the diameter of the upper portion thereof. The sealing disc 43 is disposed at the intersection of the upper and lower portions of the throat 23.

In the form of the sealing disc illustrated in FIGURES 2 through 6, the sealing disc 43 includes a relatively thick circular disk 45 and a thin marginal tear annulus 46 which surrounds the circular disk 45 and is integrally connected to the nozzle 12. The sealing disc 43 may be readily removed from within the nozzle 12 by rupturing the same along the tear annulus 46.

In order to facilitate the removal of the sealing disc 43, there is provided a pull tab 47 which is connected to the upper surface of the circular disk 45 adjacent the tear annulus 46 and in alignment with the connecting strap 14. When the nozzle 12 is initially formed, the pull tab 47 extends generally parallel to the axis of the nozzle 12 4 r and is of a length to project a considerable distance above the top of the nozzle 12 to facilitate the grasping thereof to exert an upward pull thereon suflicient to rupture the tear annulus 46 and to efiiect the removal thereof.

Reference is now made to FIGURE 3 in particular wherein it will be seen that when the closure cap 13 is moved towards a position closing and sealing the nozzle 12, the upper end of the pull tab 47 is received Within the confines of the plug 34 with the upper end of the pull tab 47 engaging the underside of the top wall 29 of the closure cap 13. As the closure cap 13 is continued to be moved towards its seated position on the nozzle 12, the pull tab 47 is progressively bent or bowed, and when the closure cap 13 is fully seated on the nozzle 12 as is shown in FIGURE 4, a pull tab 47 is disposed entirely within the nozzle 12 and is retained therein by the closure cap 13.

In the formation of the nozzle and closure cap assembly 10, all of the above-described components are formed in one piece from a suitable resilient and deformable plastic, such as polyethylene. Thus the pull tab 47 is relatively resilient, and when the closure cap 13 is removed from the nozzle 12, the pull tab 47 will spring upwardly from within the confines of the nozzle 12 to a position projecting upwardly above the upper end of the nozzle 12 where the pull tab 47 may be readily grasped between ones finfers and a pull exerted thereon to remove the sealing disc 43. It will thus be apparent that the nozzle 12 is provided with means for effectively sealing the same so that the container 11 and the product contained therein may be delivered to the ultimate consumer untampered with, and any tampering with the contents of the container 11 will be indicated by the rupturing of the sealing disc 43. At the same time, the nozzle 12 is so constructed whereby no special tool is required to elfect the removal of the sealing disc 43 by the ultimate consumer.

Reference is now made to FIGURES 7 and 8 in particular wherein the nozzle 12 is illustrated as having a modified form of sealing disc, generally referred to by the numeral 48. The sealing disc 48 has a thickened central portion 49 of an outline best illustrated in FIGURE 7. A pull tab 50 extends upwardly from the end of a narrow portion 51 of the thickened portion 49. The sealing disc 48 also includes a relatively thin peripheral portion 52, which is for the most part narrow, but widens out in the vicinity of the pull tab 50 and extends around the narrow portion 51 of the thickened portion 49.

It will be apparent that the sealing disc 48 differs from the sealing disk 43 only in that the thickened portion 49, in lieu of being in the form of a circular disk, as is the thickened portion 45 of the sealing disk 43, has a quite difi'erent shape to provide for a greater area of the thin portion 52 in the vicinity of the pull tab '50. Thus, the sealing disc 48 is more easily ruptured than the sealing disk 43 when a pull is exerted on the pull tab 50.

I claim:

1. A resiliently deformable plastic dispensing nozzle assembly comprising a tubular nozzle having a pouring throat, a closure cap for said nozzle, said closure cap including a skirt having a generally cylindrical internal surface, said nozzle having an outer locking rib and Said cap having a plurality of short circumferentially spaced locking rib means extending radially inwardly from said skirt internal surface and being engageable beneath said nozzle locking rib to normally retain said cap in a nozzle closing position and at the same time permitting the cap to become unseated in the event excessive pressures exist within the nozzle, said cap also having a hollow plug projecting into said pouring throat, said plug having a generally cylindrical lower portion and an upwardly flaring outer surface adjacent to said closure cap, said outer surface having a greater external diameter than the internal diameter of said cylindrical pouring throat, and said hollow plug being wedged within said nozzle and 6 expanding said pouring throat such that a seal is prO- FOREIGN PATENTS vided between said plug and said nozzle. 519,553 3/1940 Great Britain.

519,624 3/1955 Italy. References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 5 ROBERT B. REEVES, Primary Examiner 2,69 ,861 10/1954 pp 222 546 X F. R. HANDREN, Asslstant Examiner 3,019,933 2/1962 Gould et a1 21541 US, Cl. X,R.

3,278,089 10/1966 Heckin et a]. 222-543 21541 

